Sunday, December 03, 2006

Going to Seed

You've no idea how much I am enjoying my new bird feeder, though you are probably getting tired of me chuntering on about it endlessly. But I am really enjoying it! (Did I just say that twice? Guess I did.)

Today's new visitors were a pair of magnolia warblers, wee little things, smaller and sleeker than a sparrow, with brilliant yellow breasts and heads and black and white wing bars. They have a lovely song.

At one point the yellow warblers and the hoary redpolls, with their deep pink caps and breasts, were at the feeder at the same time. With a handful of natty little slate coloured juncos as counterpoint it was a pretty color combination, made all the more attractive by their darting movements and bright eyes.

We got a chuckle out of two quail this morning. They were standing beak to beak, then hopped up to bump their chests together repeatedly. Maybe this is a courting ritual, or maybe they were having quail fisticuffs, but it was highly amusing to watch.

2 comments:

Apart from quail, are you seeing different birds to me across the fence, we have birds with a black cap, but cant find them in the book.Oh, plenty sparrows and just one Mourning Dove.We also get regular visits from a hawk looking for a tasty treat.We dont feed the birds, we just fatten them up for the hawk

The feeder is drawing a good variety of birdies, but I'll bet lots of them are bedding down in your cedars.

The black-capped ones could be either chickadees or slate-coloured juncos. The juncos are commonly called "snowbirds". Today we had a pair of western fox sparrows, which are lovely chocolate-coloured birdies. I'd never seen this species before. I've seen the hawk (up close) but not the dove. I'm hoping for a sunny day so I can take pictures that look like something other than grey blobs. :)

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I am trying to wake up, in the Buddhist sense, in other words, to be open and curious, not to recoil from discomfort and challenge but to embrace it and learn what it has to teach me. As Peace Pilgrim said: "Inner peace is not found by staying on the surface of life, or by attempting to escape from life through any means. Inner peace is found by facing life squarely, solving its problems, and delving as far beneath its surface as possible to discover its verities and realities."